Clothing & Apparel Tariff Rates 2026: US Import Duties by Country & HTS Code

What This Covers

The clothing and apparel surcharge applies to garments, knitwear, woven clothing, and textile accessories classified under HTS chapters 61-62. This sector already carries some of the highest base tariff rates in the US schedule, averaging 16.5% before any additional surcharges are applied. After the Supreme Court struck down IEEPA reciprocal tariffs on February 20, 2026, all apparel-exporting countries now face a uniform 10% Section 122 tariff (effective February 24, 2026; scheduled to sunset ~July 24, 2026) instead of the widely varying country-specific rates that ranged from 10% to 49%. This Section 122 tariff is legally contested: the Court of International Trade ruled it unlawful on May 7, 2026, but the Federal Circuit stayed that injunction on June 11, 2026, so CBP continues collecting the 10% pending appeal. EU-origin apparel became a special case on July 1, 2026: under the EU-US trade deal, goods with MFN rates of 15% or higher — which covers most apparel at the 16.5% average — pay MFN only, with no surcharge at all. For Asian exporters, the shift to a uniform 10% represented enormous relief from the steepest reciprocal rates.

Most Affected Countries

China remains the most burdened apparel source due to Section 301 surcharges stacking on top of the 10% Section 122 rate, keeping Chinese garments significantly more expensive than alternatives. Vietnam, which had faced a punishing 46% IEEPA rate, now pays only 10% under Section 122 — a reduction that restores its competitiveness as a low-cost apparel manufacturing hub almost overnight. Bangladesh, the world's second-largest garment exporter, benefits from an even more dramatic drop, from 37% down to 10%, reinforcing its position as the go-to source for fast fashion and basics. India and Indonesia similarly see their rates collapse to the uniform 10%, reopening price-competitive sourcing from these markets.

How Surcharges Stack

Apparel tariff stacking has become substantially less severe following the SCOTUS ruling. A cotton shirt from Vietnam with a 16.5% base rate now faces only the additional 10% Section 122 tariff, for a combined rate of roughly 26.5% — compared to over 60% under the old IEEPA regime. For Chinese apparel, the 16.5% base rate stacks with Section 301 surcharges and the 10% Section 122 tariff, creating combined rates that still approach 50% on certain garment categories. Bangladesh-origin garments see their total burden drop to approximately 26.5% (16.5% base + 10% Section 122), down from over 53% under the old 37% IEEPA rate. USMCA-qualifying apparel from Mexico enters duty-free if it meets the yarn-forward rule of origin. Note that the Section 122 tariff is scheduled to sunset around July 24, 2026.

Sourcing Strategies

The collapse of country-specific rate differentials has transformed apparel sourcing strategy. Bangladesh and Vietnam are once again the most cost-competitive Asian sourcing options, with their 10% Section 122 rate far below the old IEEPA rates that had threatened to make their production uneconomical. Nearshoring to Central America and Mexico under USMCA and CAFTA-DR agreements remains attractive for duty-free access, but the urgency of nearshoring has diminished now that Asian rates have normalized. Importers should build flexibility into contracts to account for the temporary nature of Section 122 — it is scheduled to sunset July 24, 2026, but USTR has proposed replacing it with 12.5% Section 301 duties on 46 countries (including Vietnam, India, Thailand, and China), with a July 20, 2026 completion deadline, so contracts should price both scenarios. Italian and other EU-made garments, meanwhile, now pay MFN only (no surcharge) under the July 2026 EU-US deal, since apparel MFN rates typically exceed the deal's 15% ceiling.